I do think that there is a feeling in the US that "mechanics" -- those who work with hands, those who build the houses and fix the cars, are somehow less than someone who sits in an office and has a college degree. I heard someone who I figured to be an out-of-work stockbroker saying that the head of the NYSE deserved his multi-million dollar salary more than Boeing machinists deserved a raise because he'd gone to college and spent years learning his stock in trade (no, I'm NOT sorry!). I figured the speaker didn't know much about machinists and abysmally ignorant of what it takes to become one.

As I've said before, the sooner labor and management realize that each is dependent upon the other the sooner we can get on with doing what needs to be done.